Chapter 33: Looking Like Teng Yi
With the two broadcasters confirmed, the school radio station officially began operations.
Ruan Yu reported punctually every noon. In those brief thirty minutes, she would play a few pleasant songs, recite short poems, recommend books, or announce timely news to serve the faculty and students.
The response from the schoolmates was positive, with many even requesting extended airtime. However, Tian Cheng, considering that some students needed their midday rest, rejected the proposal to avoid taking up too much of everyone's time.
For the evening segment, Wang Jing took a different approach by narrating books daily. Sometimes he covered classic literature, other times he gathered obscure ghost stories and bizarre tales, which proved highly popular.
Both of them even gained a considerable number of fans, especially Wang Jing. His voice was a traditionally deep, resonant baritone—smooth and captivating—making young girls swoon at first listen. Many flocked to the radio station just to catch a glimpse of him.
After the semester started, Wang Jing indulged in eating and drinking freely on West Street, free from family restraints, and ended up gaining over ten pounds. When his fans finally saw him in person and realized he had ballooned like an inflated marshmallow, the stark contrast between his voice and appearance left them utterly disappointed, one after another retreating. Wang Jing experienced emotional highs and lows daily, as if riding a rollercoaster.
After several such blows, Wang Jing finally resolved to lose weight and started eating at the cafeteria with Ruan Yu every day. Thanks to the radio station and the cafeteria, the two quickly grew closer.
Wang Jing became one of Ruan Yu’s few friends—and a male one at that.
"Today, a bespectacled junior girl from the publicity office came to deliver a love letter to me. The moment she saw me, she turned and ran in fright, even dropping the letter without realizing it," Wang Jing said, sitting across from Ruan Yu. He took a sip of the cafeteria’s seaweed soup, picked up a steamed bun, bit into it, then set it back down. "Ruan Ruan, am I really that fat?"
"Why ask me? Don’t you own a mirror?" Ruan Yu didn’t even look up, her head buried in her clay pot meal.
"Fair enough. I do have some self-awareness about my weight. But do these people have to be so cruel? Even if it’s a case of 'catfishing,' they don’t need to make it so obvious. A polite greeting, saving me some face—even if they cursed me as a 'fatty' behind my back a dozen times, it wouldn’t hurt as much."
Ruan Yu had no response. She wasn’t good at comforting people and could only glance at him sympathetically.
"You know what’s even more ridiculous?" Wang Jing stabbed his chopsticks violently into the bun. "I read that junior’s love letter. It actually said, 'Senior Wang Jing, I’m enchanted by your voice. I want to have a relationship with you that goes beyond being schoolmates. No matter what you look like, it doesn’t matter.'"
Wang Jing pinched his voice, mimicking the girl’s sugary tone, making Ruan Yu’s stomach churn.
She silently gestured for him to stop.
Ignoring her, Wang Jing continued, "These people lie through their teeth, and the hypocrisy is just too blatant. 'No matter what you look like'—yeah right. I bet she was expecting me to look like Teng Yi."
Ruan Yu’s heart skipped a beat.
These past few days, she had deliberately avoided thoughts of that name. Hearing it so abruptly made her miss him all over again.
"Enough. Just eat your bun quietly," Ruan Yu snapped irritably. "Let me have a proper meal in peace.""Alright, alright, no more complaining. When I slim down to a bolt of lightning in the future, I'll dazzle their eyes that only care about looks."
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